Turn the page ... Tuesday

It's hard for me to believe that I haven't hosted Turn the page ... Tuesday in over a year (or done any blogging for that matter). I kept reading and life kept going and I never made it to the blog.

 

 

BUT.

 

 

No time like the present.

 

 

I have read quite a bit over the past year so I went back through and picked the books that I thought would make for great October reading. I also included some current reads too. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

You all may remember that I like to get my books as cheap as possible; preferably free. This little nugget I had on my to-read list and discovered it was actually a Kindle Prime book = FREE. Perfect. The Bloodletter's Daughter  is based on events that happened in the early 1600's which had me spending some quality time with my friend Google. Did you know you could get a shave and have leaches attached to your body to remove any bad humors by the same person? Yup. So glad we have progressed in our personal hygiene and medical fields. But I digress. The Bloodletter's daughter assists her father in - wait for it - you guessed it - bloodletting. Marketa is not only beautiful but ambitious and wishes to become a bloodletter herself and has some grand ideas but is prevented to do so because she is a woman. Enter the true bad guy (as opposed to all the other's who think Marketa should stick to women's work - you have to read the book to see what THAT is all about - ahem). Don Julius is mad - literally - he's insane and completely out of control. There's one teeny tiny problem (besides being a lunatic) - he's technically royalty but because of this thing called illegitimacy he has no claim to the thrown.  But because his dad, the KING - has put him in the castle on the hill of their village, the common folk still have to treat him like he's hot stuff. NOT A GOOD COMBO. Can you see where this is going ... ol' DJ has some bad humors and he thinks Marketa is THE ONE to cure them. And as they say ... the rest is his-stor-eee. 

 

Here is the link to the facts of Don Julius D´Austria that the book was based on.

 

Yo! Adrienne says: It's a page turner that's worth the time. Sooo glad I am a 21st century woman.

Have you ever had a friend that maybe wasn't such a good influence. Maybe they never really made you do anything you didn't want to do but there was just something there - something that made you go against your gut. Harriet Said ... is one of those books that had me thankful that any peer pressure I may have succumbed to as an adolescent (the main characters are 13 and 14) was mild compared to what these two girls did to each other and those around them. This book is chocked with insecurity and manipulation. Oh wait - I just described what it means to be a teenager. Thank goodness I'm 42.

Yo! Adrienne says: If you like to be freaked out by how much damage two girls can do - go for it! I passed it on to Goodwill.

 

 

Imagine you only had 99 nights to get done what needed done our you were out. Out as in no place to live and your life is still a wreck. Thank goodness Rocky isn't too particular about the housekeeping - I don't think even if I had 99 million nights I would ever have this house spic and span.

 

Oh - the book. Never mind my train wreck.

 

Don't call the Health Department.

 

Right-O.

 

The House on the End of Hope Street is filled with talking portraits, books that appear and disappear, and (my favorite) a closet that is FULL of every kind of shoe, purse, hat, clothing item you could ever want. AND then changes when you need something different. Now THAT is magic.

 

Each woman who finds her way to the house on the end of Hope St. is waging her own battle and lacking direction plan. They are more or less at their own dead end. The story's main character Alba Ashly actually has everything going for her. That is until - well. You have to read the book to find out. But let's say it's big. As the book progresses she meets some pretty interesting people (and a very cool cat). There's some great roommate tension and building mystery surrounding each person and their great "need" that drew them to the house. The house has a "history" and the author had fun intermingling famous authors and their work throughout the book.

 

Yo! Adrienne says: If you are a fan of Sarah Addison Allen then you will enjoy this quick read. I passed this one around to all my girlfriends. I loved it.

 

 

Thanks to Dolce Bellezza I have ventured into a new category of reading - translated literature. When The Stationmaster appeared on her blog I was intrigued. It is a book consisting of 8 short stories. I have read the first 3 and am in the middle of the 4th. I have kept it on my nightstand and it has been so satisfying as a quick read before bed.

 

The Stationmaster shares the last days before the Stationmaster retires from the job he has had his whole life. He and his now deceased wife lived in the station and handled every aspect of the operation. Now that things are more "modern" the train only comes through a fraction of the times it once did. No need for a full time manager. Sadly, the stationmaster's daughter died at a very young age and he also suffers remorse from how he handled his wife's death. Despite being stoic he is lonely and struggling with the prospect of retirement. Then along comes a mysterious young girl who lifts his spirits. As the story progresses several girls (one at a time) come along - each reminding him of his lost daughter.

 

Love Letter was such an interesting "romance" and apparently has been made into two feature films. (I'd love to see if I can track one of these down to view.) We are introduced to the main character right after he is released from a short stint in jail. He makes his living in unusual and illegal ways. One of his most recent paychecks came from his "marriage" to a woman he would never meet. That is until after her death when he had to play the part of a mourning husband and claim the body. Sadly, she earned her money servicing the city visitors who came to the country for some R&R. Upon arriving and collecting her limited belongings he finds in her purse red lipstick (which he fascinates about her wearing) and a letter addressed to him. He is struck by not only how beautiful she was but by what she had to say to him in her note. He is so overcome with emotion he can't help himself from full blown sobbing. He doesn't know if he will ever feel this way about anyone again.

 

Devil. Have you ever met someone that you were convinced was pure evil. It's frightening when you get that weird feeling and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Yet their credentials are pristine. Imagine it was your tutor that gave you the willies and that tutor was your friends as well; that is until he died suddenly. The friend who just came into school the day before he died and was complaining that the tutor was horrible to him and he was convinced the tutor was harming his mother. And now he's your tutor. As soon as he appears the once affluent house begins to fall apart. The main character watches helplessly as his parents marriage fall apart - sees his grandfather die suddenly while confronting the tutor - witnesses something in the woods between his mother and tutor that his innocent mind doesn't understand. Devil in disguise?

 

Yo! Adrienne says: I have really enjoyed reading these short stories; and the fact that they are translated Japanese literature makes me feel that much smarter ;-) I chose to add them to the October list because there is an enigma to each one.

  

 

 

 

I am currently reading a classic this October. I've had Dracula on my kindle since January 2011! Goodness. 'Bout time I got to it. Ever since I read The Historian  I swore I was going to read Dracula (and then watch the movie). I don't even know how long ago that was. Probably some time before January of  2011 ;-)

And while I'm talkin' classics, a few years ago I read Frankenstein and loved it. Which reminds me. I never watched that movie either. Looks like I'm going to have a spooktacular October!

I hope there are still some of you loyal TTPT fans who have some great reads to share. I can always add a few more to my list.

I am trying a new link system. If it doesn't work just leave your link in the comments.

Looking forward to what you've been reading ... um, like in the past year ;-)